FAMILY ARCHIVES – WEDDING, RALLY, TOM’S TRIBUTE etc.

A special tribute

THOMAS DAVID THOMPSON (1932-2012) – A CELEBRATION OF HIS LIFE!
Tom was the great grandson of an entrepreneurial Irishman and merchant seaman, Captain David Thompson, who developed Clifton Gardens as a vast recreational area with picnic grounds and dancing pavilions and built the Marine Hotel in the late 19th century on the foreshores of Sydney Harbour.

Tom Thompson took the same spirit into his own business endeavours and forged a name for himself in the Australian PetCare Industry and established 4 major retail outlets called PetCare 2000.

He became known to many Australian pet owners by developing a more nutritional and natural food for dogs and cats, marketed under his own brand, ‘Uncle Tom’.

Tom’s final resting place is now with Captain David in Sydney’s historic cemetery at Gore Hill in the North Shore suburb of St. Leonards.

He had left instructions for his family and friends to celebrate his life and this video of him that I filmed in Nyngan was one of his favourites:

The Happiest Event of 2012!

JESS & MIKE…. married!!!!!!!

On a sunny Saturday afternoon in a beautiful garden in Leura ( in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, Australia ) Jess Thompson and Mike Rosman were married.

The spring wedding took place on the 20th October 2012 at the home of Mike’s mother, Jane, before family and friends. One week before, the same garden had been covered totally in snow!

The pair became husband and wife to the sound of the ‘circle of drums’ simulating a pounding heart beat.

Travel, Music and other Lifetime Experiences – this video program is a refreshing look at how many different adventures we can experience in one lifetime!

An Adventure Special:

TALES OF COURAGE & SURVIVAL FROM THE 2012 MONGOL RALLY

Aerial photo of Mongolian Rally (2010) by Humphrey Murphy

The torturous terrain travelled during this daring rally adventure, in past years, has claimed lives and vehicles, as participants bravely followed their own routes from London to Mongolia to aid their favourite charities and to provide much needed funds for Mongolian orphans at the Lotus Centre in Ulaanbaatar.

This year, three young men from Australia – Dylan Thompson, Adalbert ‘Dalbs’ Hutter and Neil Waldron – formed a team to tackle the challenge of delivering an ambulance to Mongolia and to raise money for the charity, Act For Peace.

They knew that they would be travelling without any mechanical back-up or normal travel comforts and would be left to complete their mission using their own personal resources, i.e. ‘travelling naked’. Hence that was the name they gave to their team.

In this series of video clips, Dylan describes how their journey was plotted and how the execution of such an ambitious travel plan taxed each team member to the limit, as they drove the thousands of kilometres across Europe into the wide and rugged expanse of Central Asia.

He details their pleasing, humorous and very precarious moments as the trio doggedly forged a path across some of the planet’s harshest territory where the term ‘infrastructure’ seems to be a dusty, if not dirty, word! Several of their human encounters were as potentially dangerous as their driving challenges. But they were also met with acts of kindness and support for their commitment to get the ambulance and themselves safely to Ulaanbaatar.

In Part One, Dylan explains how they prepared for the challenge in Australia, then got to London to slice through masses of red tape and travel delays to finally get on the road and to head for their run on foot across Liechtenstein from border to border to raise awareness of their fund-raising adventure.

In Part Two, Dylan describes the journey with Dalbs from Munich to Moscow, where they would be joined by the third team member, Neil. This leg of their trip included their first mechanical mishap, a generous community support gesture in Hungary, good times in Balaton, extending a helping hand to hitchhikers on their way to Rome and then the first of many difficult border crossings.

In Part Three, Neil joins the team, Dylan treks through the streets of Moscow alone and the team is interviewed in Moscow for a Prime Time spot on Russian television. Then they head for Kazakhstan, meeting a series of rugged road misfortunes, tummy bugs, meetings with friendly locals and other rally teams before being greeted, close to their exit from the country by a determined police patrol who seemed to be trying to raise some funds of their own.

In Part Four, The intrepid trio, on their way out of Kazakstan, stopped to investigate a once deadly Soviet rocket site which left a legacy of radiation poisoning for many of the local inhabitants. The team then headed into Siberia, following the path of the Trans Siberian Railway, before wandering off to Lake Baikal (‘rich lake‘) reported to be the world’s oldest and deepest lake. Then they headed down to their border entry into Mongolia, where they would complete their mission in delivering their ambulance at the finish line to the Mongol Rally. Their real reward was to then meet with the orphans who are to benefit from their brave, arduous adventure.

THE LES THOMPSON SHOW

Episode 3 The European AUTUMN Edition

Travel, Music and other Lifetime Experiences – this video program is a refreshing look at how many different adventures we can experience in one lifetime!

PART 1:

Autumn scenes from Europe:

PART 2:

Autumn scenes from Australia:

THE LONDON TO MONGOLIA CHARITY RALLY

MISSION COMPLETED!

My son, Dylan Thompson, was part of an Australian team delivering an ambulance from London to the Lotus Children’s Centre at Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia.

The team crossed many borders, hit enormous potholes and, travelling in an ambulance, were stopped by police on several occasions. Still, they pressed on, as part of the Mongolian Rally, to complete their mission in delivering the vehicle and in raising funds for the charity Act for Peace . The team was determined to help, as Dylan told me: It’s a fact that Mongolian street orphans struggle to stay warm in winter temperatures of 40 degrees below zero by living under streets among sewers and water pipes. Hopefully, our efforts help save some lives.

Travel, Music and other Lifetime Experiences – this video program is a refreshing look at how many different adventures we can experience in one lifetime!

PART 1:

PART 2:

‘Aussie Jack’ has some BUSH YARNS for you!

The ‘DULUX SHOW’ RADIO REUNION:

The ‘Decorating with Dulux Show’ was a national radio program which was broadcast throughout Australia for 5 years in the early 1970s. Created and produced by Dulux Paints Sales Executive, BRUCE LEONARD, it was hosted by GLEN BARKER & LES THOMPSON

Glen, a Dulux decorating consultant, answered questions from listeners while Les introduced entertainment items such as excerpts from Bruce’s highly successful series ‘The Golden Days of Radio’ ……….and interviews with local and overseas celebrities. The broadcast team met for a reunion in Newcastle in March 2012:

Les’ take on Bill Bryson’s description of listening to Cricket on Australian Radio